Liturgical Banners

Liturgical Banners
designed by James Mellick

Ordination Banner for Pastor Blaine Keene
Blaine and I discussed the ideas that represented his mission and ministry and I came up with the design and symbols for a banner to be presented at his ordination. The Quilters club who meet in the church took on the task of finding fabric and putting the banner together. They did wonderful work. The banner measures about 3ft by 5ft.

Passion Banner, 2006; machine and hand sewn felt, 96" x 127"
I saw the need for a new banner to hang in the sanctuary of the Marysville First United Methodist Church during the Lenten season. I designed a banner that suggested the risen Christ with four panels depicting events in the life of Christ. I wanted the banner to be bright and colorful enough to lighten up the dark sanctuary.
I began with a sketch which was scanned on to transparent film so that could be projected on to a large panel of paper that would serve as the full-sized pattern and working drawing.

The next step was to create an acrylic painting study on canvas to work out the color relationships and sequence with 24 different colors. Once I mixed the hue I wanted, I also made color swatches to guide in selecting the right color of felt.
The Celebration Committee of the church stepped in and worked off and on for several months tracing and cutting patterns and cutting out the parts of felt.

We did the four panels and the detail on the cross on a sewing machine and then applied by hand what the little (but mighty) Singer sewing machine could not reach. My wife's new sewing machine passed the test and survived. All my sewing experience from when I did soft sculpture in grad school came back to me and the sewing machine is not far from using a band saw.
Since women work differently from men, it was a unique experience learning to talk and work at the same time. By the end of the project I did feel the need for testosterone injections.

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	Passion Banner, 2006; machine and hand sewn felt, 96" x 127" I saw the need for a new banner to hang in the sanctuary of the Marysville First United Methodist Church during the Lenten season. I designed a banner that suggested the risen Christ with four panels depicting events in the life of Christ. I wanted the banner to be bright and colorful enough to lighten up the dark sanctuary. I began with a sketch which was scanned on to transparent film so that could be projected on to a large panel of paper that would serve as the full-sized pattern and working drawing.
	The next step was to create an acrylic painting study on canvas to work out the color relationships and sequence with 24 different colors. Once I mixed the hue I wanted, I also made color swatches to guide in selecting the right color of felt. The Celebration Committee of the church stepped in and worked off and on for several months tracing and cutting patterns and cutting out the parts of felt.
	We did the four panels and the detail on the cross on a sewing machine and then applied by hand what the little (but mighty) Singer sewing machine could not reach. My wife's new sewing machine passed the test and survived. All my sewing experience from when I did soft sculpture in grad school came back to me and the sewing machine is not far from using a band saw. Since women work differently from men, it was a unique experience learning to talk and work at the same time. By the end of the project I did feel the need for testosterone injections.